Blues manager Mick McCarthy says new midfield loan signing Richard Chaplow’s ability was never in question, despite the 30-year-old having been out of favour at struggling Millwall. The Town boss says it’s important to look beyond a player’s situation with their current club and that he has benefited from doing so throughout his career as a boss.

“I knew he could play, that wasn’t a question,” he said of Chaplow, who spent the week training with the club before having an initial one-month loan with an agreement to extend to beyond the play-offs if required was formalised yesterday.

“I know about his ability and if you get the opportunity to get them under your roof and see what they’re like with the rest of the lads and mix in and interact, that’s great.

“He’s one that is out of contract at Millwall, they’re not going to keep him. I think they’ve got a few more players than we have and sometimes it’s not great to have them around the place, although he strikes me as a really good lad.

“Ollie spoke highly of him, he’s come in, he’s trained, he’s fitted in and I know he’s got good quality. And he’s got a goal in him as well.”

McCarthy says he pays little heed to where players are currently playing - or not playing - their football and says he has made good but perhaps unexpected signings throughout his time as a manager.

“That’s probably why I’ve been in this game for 20-odd years as a manager - I don’t look at it like ‘my dad’s bigger than your dad, he can fight him, so he can fight him…’. It doesn’t work like that.

“They don’t want him so why should we want him? Actually, look beyond all that. How many times has that happened and you’ve had egg on your face? Managers, players, have a look at them and see.

“We had Balint Bajner and Kevin Bru walk in the door in the summer, nobody had ever heard of them, me included.

“Balint didn’t work out, but Kevin Bru’s just signed a new four-year deal and has been different class.

“But why the hell would we want him when he’s been freed from a club that we can’t even pronounce in Bulgaria? That’s just stupid even looking at him!”

He reflected on his time at his previous clubs: “I could go through all my career, have a look at them.

“Neill Collins comes down from a club in Scotland [Dumbarton] when I was at Sunderland, we paid 20-odd grand for him and we got promoted with him. We got promoted with him there and got promoted with him at Wolves.

“We took a reserve player, Andy Welsh, from Stockport - a reserve at Stockport, God forbid! - and we got promoted with him playing on the left wing.

“Have a look at them. It’s so easy, we’re so quick to dismiss everybody, ‘He can’t play, he can’t do this’.

“Well I’ve found to my credit that it’s worth having a look because you look a twat if somebody else takes them, let me tell you!”

Photo: ITFC

Photo: Action Images

CavendishBlue added 07:14 - Feb 21 MM LEGEND
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Suffolk_n_Good added 07:15 - Feb 21 And there you have you doubters!! Mick knows what he's doing, Varney, Chaplow, Bru, Ambrose, N.Hunt, all these players are deemed surplus to requirement by previous clubs, maybe had a rough time with form or injury, but give them a chance! Ok sometimes it won't work out, but Micks being shrewd, they are desperate for another chance & therefore give that 10-20% extra, because they are grateful & happy of a second chance, non of us had any idea that Bru would turn out to be as good as he is, but I believe most of us now would put his name down first in midfield on the team sheet! IN MICK WE TRUST 👍

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howdonblue added 07:21 - Feb 21 Hear hear sng IN MICK WE TRUST !
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parhamblue added 07:27 - Feb 21 Yes, Bru was considered a write-off on his Levski - Mick that's "Levski" - experience, and credit to the player and the Town set-up for realising his ability. Shows the value of a summer trial, when there's time to evaluate a player. The emergency loan window is just that, but still represents the chance to boost the squad in the run-in to the end of a tough season.

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muccletonjoe added 07:41 - Feb 21 I think we can all see the difference between mm and jewell, mick gets in players who want to make an impact, jewell used to rely on players looking for a last payday.
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JustSpivvyChops added 07:43 - Feb 21 WTF!?!?! Kevin Bru different class.......I've heard it all now. I agree that players not performing at one club can benefit from a change, but by and large it doesn't tend to work out and we've had many many many of these through the doors, so nobody knows better than we do. Please please please don't ever refer to Kevin Bru as "different class" again, he's not a patch on any of the creative/goal scoring midfielders we've had in the history of the club, just fookin laughable Mick! If you'd said "we haven't got a pot to pi55 in and this guys cost us nothing and is a very average player at this level, but can pass the ball better than Hyam and Skuse" then fine, but you're description is a bad joke.......Bishop is twice the player Bru is and ever will be and he's still learning the game, great potential, but nowhere near the finished article.

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ipswich1979 added 07:47 - Feb 21 Well I've found to my credit that it's worth having a look because you look a tw@t if somebody else takes them, let me tell you!” Just coughed in my cornflakes, one of funniest MM quotes for a while
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Generic added 07:49 - Feb 21 Time of the month, SpivvyChops?
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jas0999 added 07:53 - Feb 21 Mck has done a great job so I don't doubt his ability as manager. But this board us about opinion and mine is I'm surprised we have signed him. I don't personally think he is any better than we have in that position. Worse provably. We need a Williams type player or a natural wide man. Someone better than Tabb and Anderson.
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WindsorBlue added 08:24 - Feb 21 I can't understand why people can be negative. Good work Mick...right then TWTD catch up done. Walk the dogs, and get dowern the towern to watch boro before seeing chaplow and Varney bang in a couple!COYB!
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JustSpivvyChops added 08:43 - Feb 21 Sleepless night at the hands of cold ridden kids Generic........ so definitely grumpy at the moment :-) Stand by what I say though, MM has worked the team well, but he's having a laugh if he thinks I'm gonna accept Bru as "different class".....totally ordinary in every respect and another one that won't attract a fee to leave the club, he only makes our ordinary side because we have injuries FFS!!

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BlueandTruesince82 added 09:09 - Feb 21 KB has been far better than just average. He looks poised, sees a pass and makes it. Hes a clever player and would do a great job at a higher level where you don't get clattered at every opportunity. people laughed when Wenger signed Berkamp, could hardly get a game at Inter, came to Arsenal and was awsome. Now I know Chaplow is no Berkamp but sometimes you need the right move and the right manager. MM and TC have got more out of Murph than any other manager ever has and you see that throughout their careers.

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DutchTownFan added 09:18 - Feb 21 Mick would suck at Football Manager.
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matty81 added 09:24 - Feb 21 Bruce Rioch signed Dennis Bergkamp I'm afraid.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 09:44 - Feb 21 Did he really? Well none the less the point remains, did nowt at Juve in 2 years, then Arsenal legend
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ShropshireBluenago09 added 09:46 - Feb 21 Good signing - He was part of some good sides. I think he was part of the Southampton championship winning side. Definitely a MM player, full of running and tackles - welcome Chaplow.
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runaround added 09:53 - Feb 21 Great quotes from Mick showing his thinking in signing Chaplow & Varney. They are low risk signings financially & if they work out great, if not then at least we tried. People keep crying about Derby getting Ince & Benty, but remember they have lost all 3 of their regular front 3 in Ibe, Russell & now Martin so their need were a lot greater than ours. Without doubt they are 2 excellent players but on wages 4 or 5 times of what our squad is. Would they have fitted into our style of play? Would they have fitted in with the rest of the squad? 2

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runaround added 09:55 - Feb 21 2001/2 is a painful memory of how bringing in players on massively higher wage can upset a squad. I'm happy to trust MM on this, after all he's done ok so far hasn't he?!
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StowmanITFC added 10:58 - Feb 21 Spivvychops where do I start. You do realize that MM referring to Bru as different class is not a direct comparison to Holland/Wark etc. Yes Bishop is a great young player and will go on to be even better but against shef weds he was ineffective and was outmuscled in the middle. Bru came on and made an instant impact and was able to provide that cutting edge from midfield to break down their defense. In regards to your comment about our team being ordinary, if thats the case doesn't that show just what a great job MM has done getting us from bottom to top 4 with no money and "ordinary" players?

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StowmanITFC added 11:02 - Feb 21 runaround I completely agree, there is no risk on our part. They either force their way into the side and play well to revive their careers or they fizzle out and cost us nothing. Also agree on signings like Bent Ince etc, can we really afford to carry players who are flashy but have no workrate when we have reached our current lofty position through hard work? I know which I would prefer.

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JustSpivvyChops added 12:51 - Feb 21 Stowman......he isn't "different class" to anything we've got in the current squad, let alone the legends of ago. MM's description of Bru, is, in his own words...BONKERS !!
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rinkydinkpanther added 14:03 - Feb 21 Always amuses me how some people are absolutely doubled over with laughter whenever McCarthy, as a northerner, uses a swear word. This explains the unfathomable success of Paddy McGuinness. Jokes for the proles.
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